Bart Bear's Blog

But not where we were. This photo was taken on Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. That day it was 12 degrees hotter than it was in Canberra, just right for a beach break. The beaches in north Queensland are not like the ones further south. I guess the sand is the same, but the ocean is very different. Instead of huge terrifying waves that scare Mum, let alone me, the waves up there are very small. That's because the Barrier Reef blocks the really big ones and the hundreds of islands take most of the roughness of the rest of them. So you would think that small bears might be allowed to learn to surf there. But you would be wrong; Mums don't like wet fur on bears. Whitehaven is a very pretty beach most of the time, miles and miles of white sand with only birds, lizards and trees living there. It is used in just about every advertisment for Australia that uses a beach scene. But it is in a bit of trouble at present. Too many people are going there, thousands of them every fine day, and some of them don't take their rubbish away. This day there were lolly wrappers and cigarette butts scattered all over the sand. The only clean sand was the stuff being uncovered as the tide went out. Some people are really stupid, rubbishing a beautiful beach like this one. Remember, when you go to the beach (or anywhere really) clean up after yourself and take your rubbish away with you.

Labels: Hamilton Is, Queensland, trouble